


You Look Like Me on Sunday

by ScotlandEvander



Series: Over the Rainbow [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anger, Angst, Gen, Hospitalization, M/M, Regret, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2013-06-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 11:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/861496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScotlandEvander/pseuds/ScotlandEvander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius’s fingers were bleeding. He failed to notice. He continued to chew on his nonexistent fingernails, waiting for Remus to wake up. Remus had been out cold since Sirius arrived, even though Madam Pomfrey told him Remus was wide awake when she went to retrieve him this morning. She was amazed, as his injuries were the worst they had been in months.</p><p>Sirius knew why the injuries had been bad. It was all his fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Look Like Me on Sunday

**Dislciamer: If you know it, I do not own it.**

* * *

Remus slowly regained awareness of his surroundings. The dust and rotting wood scents filled his nose, along with the smells of a bright spring morning. He did not want to open his eyes, for fear of the pain seeping in and the reality of his situation. For a second, he wanted to imagine he was waking up as a normal human being on a spring morning. The awareness, though, soon took over and Remus was more than mindful of every scratch, every broken bone and every ache. Groaning, he slowly pushed himself upward and cracked his eyes open. 

The transformation had been his roughest in a long time. He had a sinking feeling it had to do with the fact he had not been with his friends, running around and playing as he often spent his transformations while at school. Things had been tense since Remus had gotten wind of more bullying on the part of James and Sirius. It was the last straw. For him as well as Atlanta and Regulus. 

He took stock of his injuries, cringing at the bruises and deep cuts. He was sure his ankle was broken and his arm looked like it had been spilt in half. Quelling the need to throw up, he looked around for something to warp his arm in till Madam Pomfrey appeared to heal him. That was when he spotted her: Atlanta Black was passed out in a corner of the room. Her hair was a mess and she was bloody. She had several large scratched across her face. Without thinking, Remus scrambled to his feet and went to her. 

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he cried, tears spilling out of his eyes. He gently rolled her over with his good arm and gasped. 

She was dressed in a thin shirt and jeans— well, what was left of them as they were ripped to shreds. She was caked in dried blood and bruised on almost every inch of her formally pale skin. There were several bite marks on her as well. 

Remus crashed to the ground and allowed himself to all out bawl. He did not care he was sixteen. He did not care that he was a guy and thus not allowed to cry. 

He’d ruined her life. And ended his. There was no way he’d be allowed to continue, to exist now that he’d destroyed another life. 

The noise he was making, woke Atlanta up. Her eyes flew open.

“Atlanta?” he choked out. 

Much too quickly, she sat up and looked around. Her face filled with concern and she reached forward, wincing slightly as she gripped his shoulder. 

“Remus, what’s wrong? Why are you sobbing?”

Remus choked a few more times and threw himself away from her. He crashed to the ground, landing hard on his shoulder. He bit down on his lip to prevent the scream that wanted to tear through him. His shoulder was dislocated.

“Remus!”

Atlanta leapt to her feet and tried to come after him, but fell with a thud. “Wow. That was a bit rougher than I imagined. Bugger.”

The sun broke through the clouds. Remus looked at her again in the morning sunlight as he scooted himself across the floor away from her. He suddenly realized he was naked. He grabbed a rug and covered himself. 

He felt exhausted. 

He as in pain. 

He felt wretched.

He felt more nauseous than before. He tried not to throw up, as he hated throwing up, but the need to empty his already empty stomach became too strong and he threw up stomach bile. When he was done, Atlanta was staring at him, a look of concern on her face. 

“Remus, is it always this bad?” she asked. 

“You’ll find out,” he managed to get out. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“What— oh. Remus, no. NO!” she cried. 

She scrambled over to him, kneeling on the other side of him from where he’d been sick. She grabbed his hand, wrapping it in both of her freezing cold hands. He shivered. 

“You did this to me in animal form! I was a dog last night when this happened. I’m an Animagus. I turn into a black mutt thing. I’m like a runt of a Lab litter.”

She laughed darkly for a moment. Remus felt there was a joke behind her comment he did not understand. 

“I was a little too small to really wrangle you like Black or Potter, but Potter had to…well, Black is a certifiable moron and hinted to Snape how to get passed the tree, so of course the toe rag did. He didn’t listen to me when I tried to stop him. He stunned me with some sort of stunner. Because it was the full moon last night, it didn’t hold me for long.”

“What does the moon have to do with how Snape’s magic effected you?”

She bit her bottom lip. “My parents were both werewolves. I’ve got some wolfish qualities and during the full moon they are…stronger than normal.”

Remus nodded. 

“Anyways, Potter showed up, but couldn’t get passed the tree. So I transformed and I was small enough to get to the knot. So I stopped the tree and hurried down the hole with Potter following. I’m sure Potter is wondering what the hell was going on, but he didn’t ask. So, Snape got to the trap door and opened it. He might have seen you, but I leaped in and closed it. I tried to distract you, but you were already agitated because you smelled humans. I stayed in dog form. Till I popped out at some point. Clearly.”

“You’re an Animagi?”

Remus had trouble wrapping his head around everything she’d spewed out at him. 

Atlanta suddenly fell back, falling hard on her rear. She made a face as she did this. 

“Yeah.”

“And your parents were both werewolves? I thought werewolves couldn’t reproduce,” Remus said. 

“Male werewolves in human form had impregnate women left and right. Their offspring will, if they are wizards, have some wolf like characteristics, like heighten sense of smell and sight, but they’ll be human. But, females…it is unheard of to have a female carry to term. I’m…an abnormality.” 

Remus nodded. “So…if I…I could have a family? They’d be normal? My kids wouldn’t turn into monsters?”

“You are not a monster, Remus Lupin,” Atlanta ordered, wearing the same fierce expression Sirius wore each time he said the same thing. It was odd how much she looked like Sirius at that moment.  

“Have you seen yourself?” Remus gestured vaguely at her person. 

“Whatever. Where is my wand?” she asked. She looked around the dusty, rotting room. “Huh, where is my coat? Oh, bugger. I left it on the ground near the tree. Bloody hell.”

She struggled to her feet, grimacing. She started for the door. 

“Wait, wait!”

“Pomfrey is going to be here shortly to get you, I can’t be here, Remus,” she said quickly. “Just don’t feel bad. You’ve beat Black up worse than this, trust me. Also, I heal fast. I bet your ankle is better, right?”

Remus noticed he ankle was no longer burning, but had in fact heeled the small break. His minor bruises were fading already. By lunch, he’d be almost bruise free. He studied Atlanta as she stood up and took stock of her clothing shards. She frowned as she studied her former shirt, which wasn’t really covering much any longer. Luckily, her bra was still in tact. 

Remus noticed a small tattoo on her stomach.

“What is your tattoo?” 

“Oh. I forgot about that. It’s a moon and a dog,” she said. 

Remus stared at it for a moment longer.

“Oh! Wand!” she exclaimed, pulling it out of her front pocket. “Remus, will you keep my secret? About my parents? People don’t usually react kindly when they hear that my parents were both werewolves.”

“I’ll keep quiet,” Remus said quietly. His heart sank a little. No matter what, any connection to werewolves bore no good. 

“Thanks, Remus,” Atlanta said, transfiguring her clothing back to actual clothes. “Things won’t always be this dire. I strongly believe someday, werewolves won’t be seen as monsters or looked down upon. You are a good person.”

“Does anyone else know about you?”

“Nope. You’re the only one I’ve trusted, besides Dumbledore, with the information about my parents. You’re the only one to know about Toto.”

“Toto?”

“Yeah. Uh, the little black dog. Well, not as little, as I’m larger than the dog from the movie,” Atlanta admitted. “You know, _The Wizard of Oz_.”

“Ah. Yes, I’ve seen it. And read the book.”

“Well, the guy who taught me how to be an Animagus thought it was a fitting name, seeing as I was totally obsessed with the movie as a little girl.”

They heard a noise somewhere below them. 

“I’m outtie.” 

Atlanta threw herself out of the living room. Remus heard her struggle up the broken stairs. She collapsed somewhere upstairs moment before Madam Pomfrey appeared, looking rather surprised to find Remus sitting up and wide awake. 

* * *

Sirius’s fingers were bleeding. He failed to notice. He continued to chew on his nonexistent fingernails, waiting for Remus to wake up. Remus had been out cold since Sirius arrived, even though Madam Pomfrey told him Remus was wide awake when she went to retrieve him this morning. She was amazed, as his injuries were the worst they had been in months.  

Sirius knew why the injuries had been bad. It was all his fault. He hadn’t slept a wink the night before. After puking his guts out when James made him realize what he’d done, he’d gone straight to the Hospital Wing, where he hid in a near by broom closet all night, periodically dry heaving into a bucket. 

“You’re going to chew your fingers off.”

Sirius jerked backwards, almost falling over. Before him, standing in a beam of sunlight, dust dancing all around her making it look like glitter was Atlanta Black. It took Sirius a moment before he realized she looked like crap. She was bruised and had several nasty scratches on her face and didn’t seem to radiate her usual determination and mischief. 

Sirius pulled his fingers from his mouth. 

“I know what you did. So does Remus. I told him this morning when he woke up and found me batter and broken near by.”

The blood drained from Sirius. He had the urge to vomit again. Luckily, there was a container for this under Remus’s bed, as he often felt like throwing up after particularly rough transformation. Sirius ducked under the bed and dry heaved for a moment till the scent of Atlanta began to fill his noise. He startled, wondering how she could possibly move so damn fast. And silently. 

“I was in animal form, nimrod,” she chided, no humor in her tone. 

“You’re—” 

“Yeah. I spoke to James at breakfast,” she sighed. “So, my secret is out. I’m a black lab. A little one. So, hello, Padfoot, I’m Toto.”

She stuck out her hand to him while he was half bent over a bucket. Sirius sat up and stared at her in confusion. He took her hand, knowing she wouldn’t stop holding it out till he took it. They shook and she quickly took her hand back. 

“I don’t feel like explaining anything to you. I’m mad as hell and I’m pretty sure I am going to hex you eight ways to Jupiter.”

Without another word, she turned around and stormed out. Sirius let his head fall onto the bed next to Remus and began chewing on the inside of his cheek. He wasn’t sure how long he had been doing this before he felt a hand on his head and a confused noise issued from a groggy Remus. 

“Ghahg. Whada you doing?” Remus asked, sounding almost as if he was speaking through a mouthful of cotton. 

Sirius turned his head, not having the energy to actually sit up straight. Between his actual vomiting last night and the dry heaving, his abdominals weren’t doing so well. On top of being wretched, Sirius was loosing a battle to be brave and pull himself together. 

“I’m so sorry, Remus,” Sirius pleaded, not caring he sounded like a whiny girl. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t think.”

“Sirius, move.”

“What?”

“I feel sick. Move,” Remus moaned.

“Just throw up on me. I deserve it. Here, throw up in my precious hair,” Sirius offered, moving his head closer to Remus.

“Sirius, I don’t want to throw up in your hair.”

“I deserve it. And much worst.”

Remus sighs a long suffering sort of sigh. “Sirius.”

“Please, just barf on me.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No. Atlanta told me what you did. Now let me puke in a bucket.”

Sirius picked up the bowl and handed it to Remus. Knowing Remus hated when people witness him being sick, Sirius closed his eyes and began to hum loudly. It was not loud enough, as he heard the noises of Remus retching. It was like a knife to his heart. 

It was all his fault. If he hadn’t been stupid, if he had THOUGHT before opening his big mouth, then they’d been there last night for the transformation and Remus would be in better shape. 

Sirius needed to think more. No more hexing Snape. No more speaking to Snape.

This was all Snape’s fault. 

Oh, who was he kidding? It was his fault. Sirius Black needed to start thinking. 

Remus smacked his arm and he pulled his gnawed at fingers out of his ears. 

“What happened to your fingers?” Remus asked quietly in a hoarse voice. Sirius glanced down at his nails and shrugged. “You chewed your nails off?”

Once again, Sirius shrugged. Remus sighed. 

“Snape knows. Oh my god, Snape knows,” Sirius groaned, ramming his hands into his hair, forgetting those fingers were tender and more than likely still bleeding. “I cannot believe I am so stupid. I didn’t even realize what I’d said till I was relaying how I’d one upped Snape and I hoped he got beaten up by the tree, since I couldn’t do it because, well, Madam Pince showed up and kicked us out and Snape was gone by the time I managed to get out of the library.”

Sirius yanked his hands out of his hair.

“I went back to the dorm, told James what happened and…” Sirius trailed off, not even remember what he’d hoped. “James realized instantly how much of an idiot I’d been. After they’d finally convinced me…I threw up. A lot. I feel so….rotten.”

Sirius chanced a look at Remus, who was looking at him with a stony face. 

“It’s not enough, though, is it?”

Fear crept into his heart. Remus had never given him that expressionless face that reminded him of the face his father wore.  

“Sirius?”

“What?”

“Do you know what Dumbledore said? He was told?” Remus asked.

“I don’t know. I was in the closet outside till Poppy brought you in. I bet he’ll be down at some point,” Sirius admitted. “Atlanta was in here before you woke up.”

Remus sat up a bit straighter, his face changing from the stony, blank expression to one of worry. “How was she?”

“She looked like she’d gotten into a fight, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. She told me what happened, that I was stupid and then she told me her name was Toto. And she helped save Snape. I guess James and Atlanta saved him. She said something about James.”

Remus nodded, looking away.

“If Snape tries to tell anyone, I’ll beat him up. Hex his brains out. Anything you want,” Sirius offered without thinking. “And I don’t think Dumbledore will kick you out. It’s not your fault. If anyone needs to be kicked out it is me. Me. Me alone.”

“Sirius,” Remus said, sounding as if he was so tired he was about to drop dead. Sirius shut up. “While you are a git, a prat and stupid, I’m not mad. Atlanta explained to me she was not hurt as she was in animal form, and that she was sure James got Snape away. Seeing neither James or Snape are in here with me, I’m sure they are fine.”

Remus paused.

“I am dangerous.”

“Remus! No!”

“Please. I’m not mad at you. I know you didn’t mean to send Snape to his death, but I feel horrible and I’d like to be alone.”

Sirius felt worried and scared. He didn’t want to leave Remus. 

“You have to be mad at me.”

“I am not. No one was hurt.”

“But…”

“Leave. Please. I’ll see you later,” Remus said, his eyes drooping. 

Sirius knew well enough that Remus was indeed tired, so he quickly stood up and left. He ran into someone after he quietly shut the hospital door behind him. He backed up a bit to find he’d crashed head first into Dumbledore.

“Oh. Uh. Dum—Pro—Head—Professor Dumbledore. So-s-s-s-sorry.”

“Ah, Mr. Black. Just the man I’m looking for. We have several points to discuss before I send you off to class this morning. You’ve made a rather large mess,” Dumbledore said seriously, no twinkle in his eye. 

Sirius gulped. He knew whatever he got, it was well deserved. He nodded soberly and followed Dumbledore. 

* * *

Remus saw nothing of Sirius for the next two days. 

The boy vanished. 

James informed Remus that Sirius had lost a total of one hundred points for Gryffindor, canceling out the fifty points James received for saving Snape and the twenty-five points Peter got for going to Dumbledore. Atlanta’s role in the matter was left out, due to the fact Snape hadn’t seen her and she was an illegal Animagus.

Snape was put under some sort of vow not to tell a soul that Remus was a werewolf. He lost a total of one hundred points for being stupid enough to go to the tree in the first place instead of going to a teacher with his suspicions. 

Sirius was in detention for the rest of the year, cleaning the bathrooms Muggle style. 

James didn’t seem bothered in the least that Sirius had not been seen for the past two days. In fact, James refused to call Sirius by his first name. James referred to Sirius as “Divvy Mutt.” 

Remus searched out Atlanta before he headed to Potions his first day back. He found her sitting at the Slytherin table when he walked into the Great Hall. She wasn’t speaking to Regulus, simply sitting next to him wearing a blank expression. The young Slytherin kept shooting concerned looks at Atlanta. Remus noted all her injuries had faded and she looked like her usual perfect self in her eggplant and sky blue robes. Her hair was shorter, though, he noticed. It no longer hung passed her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. It stopped at her shoulders.

Remus cleared his throat. Regulus started and the entire Slytherin table jerked. Remus was sure there was some sort of rumor to what had occurred, but Remus wasn’t privy to any of the rumors. Atlanta slowly looked up and appeared startled. Without a word she rose to her feet suddenly and shouted, “Remus!”

“Erm, hi, Atlanta,” he greeted, looking bemused. “I was wondering how you were?”

“Oh, fine. You?”

“Getting better.”

“What happened?” Regulus demanded suddenly. “My brother is missing and you two are acting bizarre.”

“I got into a fight, I told you,” Atlanta said, lifting her legs over the bench. She walked around, grabbing Remus by the hand. She dragged him out of the Great Hall, towards the Entrance Hall. 

“Who did you tell him you got into a fight with?” Remus asked as she toted him down another hallway filled with unused classrooms. She chose a classroom and entered. 

“Sirius,” she answered. “Hence why he’s missing. It’s kind of true. The school knows that Sirius said something to Snape and as a prank, Snape almost got hurt till James saved him. And I was so mad, Sirius and I got into a fight. I won, of course, hence the Missing Numpty.”

Remus blinked at her a few times. 

“Numpty. Scottish for idiot? Well, informally. Haven’t you heard it? It’s an awesome word. I plan to call Sirius that for the rest of his life. Numpty Black.” 

“Where is he?”

“Dunno. Dead?”

“Atlanta,” he admonished. 

“Sorry. Clearly you’re not as pissed off at him as I am,” she muttered, looking unhappy. “Remus, he almost got you to bite another student. He put another person’s life in danger. All because he can’t keep his whole grudge, or whatever the hell it is, against Snape in check. Granted, I don’t think Snape is the greatest person alive, he’s just…”

Atlanta struggled for a full two minutes before giving up trying to figure out what Snape was. 

“Addy, I’m not mad because Sirius _is_ an idiot. I’m not mad, because in the end, Snape is okay. In the end, no one is hurt forever and I believe Sirius might have learned a lesson from all this. I know James has.”

Atlanta nodded. “I know. Who knew James Potter would grow up in an instant?”

“Well, I believe the danger he put himself in caught up with him,” Remus commented. “He didn’t transform, did he?”

Atlanta shook her head. Remus narrowed his eyes. 

“How did you know?”

“About what?”

“The fact they are Animagi,” Remus clarified. “You do know.”

Atlanta grinned, rather sheepishly. 

“I saw Sirius transform once, then noticed he was followed by a stag who had a rat on it’s antlers. Kind of weird, right?” Remus nodded. “Well, it makes sense. Animals are safe around werewolves. Those three would never let you suffer on your own. I say this somewhat grudgingly, but Sirius especially wouldn’t stand for you going through it alone.”

She looked rather put out. She folded her arms across her chest and frowned. 

“I think he cares more about you than either of you realizes,” she grumbled. 

Remus felt something inside him glow for some reason. He felt warm and somewhat fuzzy when he thought about Sirius caring for him in the manner which Atlanta might be suggesting. He quickly quelled it. It was ludicrous. 

“So, all illegal…animals at Hogwarts know about one another?”

“Pretty much. Unless there’s ones we don’t know about,” Atlanta offered. “But, I doubt it. It’s not exactly an easy thing to achieve at a young age.”

“You did it.”

“I had a lot of help from another Animagus.”

Remus nodded. “Who?”

“This friend of my dad’s.”

“The werewolf?”

“Yes.”

“How was that? Growing up with two parents who were werewolves? Who took care of you when you a baby on the nights of the full moon?”

Atlanta cast her eyes at the ground, dropping her arms to her side. 

“I never knew my birth mother. She died after I was born. I was raised…I was adopted,” Atlanta said, looking up. Remus felt a flicker of a lie in her statement. “So, I don’t know what it was like. My adoptive mother died shortly after I turned seventeen. She knew the origins of my birth parents.”

“I’m sorry…” Remus mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. 

“They were killed by Voldemort,” she stated bluntly, her face hard. “My adoptive mother, my birth mother and birth father. I at least got to know the man before he was killed.” 

Remus gasped. Things she said the first night she appeared came rolling back into his head. 

“It’s how Moldy Trousers rolls. Never believe him when he says he wants equal rights for magical creatures.” 

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything.”

Atlanta stared at him. Remus was at a loss at what to do. Without giving it another thought, he threw his arms around her and hugged her. She never spoke about her family. She was like most Blacks in that sense, very private. Remus respected that. He pulled away, feeling as if he might have lifted some burden off her shoulders. 

Atlanta looked rather wet eyed. She blinked a few times and gave him a smile. Clearing his throat, because he felt awkward, he started talking. 

“Dumbledore spoke to me, telling me it wasn’t my fault. They are putting a lock on the trap door.”

Atlanta’s eyes went large. 

“I think you know what that means, don’t you?”

“I do. I’m pretty sure the lock be Marauder proof.”

Remus felt miserable, remembering what Dumbledore had told him. He knew it was necessary after the Incident, but it made him sad his friends would no longer there with him. When he thought this, though, he got mad. No one should be with him. He was a monster that needed to be locked away.

“It won’t be Marauder proof,” Atlanta informed him, a crooked smile appearing. “But, that’s neither here nor there.”

Atlanta shrugged.  

“Do you really have no idea where Sirius is?” Remus asked again. 

“No. Sorry. I haven’t gone looking for him, though. If you really want to find him, ask Reggie. Reggie’s got a talent for finding things no one else can.” 


End file.
